Musuem hosts Treiman’s drawings and prints
Wednesday marks the opening of a unique exhibit at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on the Utah State University campus.
Holding a significant collection of modernist art, the museum seldom hosts exhibits depicting representational, or realist, drawings of people, said Victoria Rowe, the museum’s education curator. This month however, the museum will host the exhibit “Joyce Treiman; Prints and Drawings,” which will feature figure drawings and portraits by American artist Joyce Treiman.
Joyce Treiman is known for her traditional, realistic drawing technique, and her non-traditional, innovative use of space and vibrant color, Rowe said.
“On the surface, Treiman was a traditionalist,” wrote art critic Theodore F. Wolff in an essay examining Treiman’s work. “In actuality, she was a fiercely independent … artist of great range and abilities. She was as comfortable doing delicate line drawings as attacking large canvases with thick daubs of paint. And when it came to color, no one was less inhibited than she.”
“[What makes Treiman’s work unique] is her personal touch,” USU drawing professor Adrian Van Suchtelen, said. “You can read her personality in those drawings.
“There are two temperaments of artists: Romanticists and classicists,” Van Suchtelen said. “Obviously, Treiman is a romantic, because romantics like to reveal things in their marks. Treiman wants you to see the way she makes a mark [on paper]. That’s her strength.”
Being able to see in person the way an artist makes a mark on paper is an immediate benefit of visiting an exhibit, Van Suchtelen said.
“Treiman’s work expresses a quirkiness in the subject she draws,” Susanne Lambert, collections manager of the museum, said. “She adds humor to her portrayals of people.”
Van Suchtelen said, “I enjoy [Treiman’s] portrait of Raphael Soyer. He was a nervous kind of person, and she captures that.”
“The children who go through the museum on tours have been very intrigued by Treiman’s colors and her expressiveness,” said Nadra Peragallo, educational training program coordinator for the museum. “They notice Treiman’s red hair as a theme in her artwork.”
A main reason for holding the show is to allow viewers to see several pieces by Treiman, which will help them to better understand her work, Rowe said.
The opening of the “Joyce Treiman; Prints and Drawings” exhibition will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the lobby of the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (located in the Chase Fine Arts Center). Van Suchtelen will give a brief lecture followed by a short video of the life and art of Joyce Treiman. Admission to the reception and exhibit is free to the public. The exhibit “Joyce Treiman; Prints and Drawings” will remain open until Dec. 7.
“What an artist does is allow us to see the world through their eyes,” Rowe said. “We think that Joyce Treiman has something to say.”